The First Lessons in Sword Dancing
by MissBellFlower
Summary: She always had these powers, but she never really knew what she could do with them. It wasn't until she took up the position as a Saniwa that she found out. A story about the Saniwa.


Ever since she was a child, she had this "ability." She could see things that were not meant to be seen – things that were connected to the distant past. When she first discovered this, she was too young to understand what this meant.

The first time she saw something was on a family vacation. Her father took the family to a museum. There was some special exhibit about the unification of Japan. She found it to be a little scary but she was still in awe of everything. Then she saw it. Although she was always able to see faint outlines and such, she never saw something like that. She stopped right in her tracks and looked straight at it.

"Mommy! There's someone on top of that sword! His hair's all pink and his clothes are all funny!"

Of course, her outburst caused a scene. Her mother apologized and said it was her daughter's over-imagination. She then grabbed her and pulled her to the side. She didn't look angry, just surprised and worried.

"I really saw it! He even looked back at me!" Her mother shushed her.

"I'm sure you did, but you shouldn't say something like that out loud. If you see something like that again, keep it to yourself, okay?"

She was confused on why her mother would say something like that, but she didn't question it. "…okay."

So life continued as it normally did. She would see things around objects, but it was normal for her. Yet, that wasn't the peak of her ability.

When she was little older, she started to see people from the past. She saw people from centuries gone overlapping with people from the modern era. She thought it was funny, in a way, how the past and the present mixed together like that.

Until the day she saw a battle from the past happen and someone got decapitated right in front of her. She was in too much shock to scream. Then she threw up.

Those types of visions kept happening. She saw those violent battles all over the place. She started to isolate herself from the outside out of fear. She barely left her house. Her parents didn't know what to do.

By the time she was in middle school, she had become jaded to it. It almost disturbed her. Her mother decided to tell her about her abilities.

From her mother's side, she's a descendant of a family of powerful sages. In the past, they were strong and were highly influential. Nowadays, their powers are diluted to the point of barely existing (although their political influence is still pretty high). It was strange that she even had these powers, much less this strong. She wasn't even from the main family.

The explanation frustrated her more than anything. She didn't even have control of this. Why her?

Before she started high school, her parents thought it would be better for her to live with her aunt in the big city. After all, it might help her in more ways than one. She didn't have much in the ways of social skills.

Her aunt welcomed her with open arms. Literally. She was so excited to see her niece after all these years; she pulled her into a hug also immediately after she stepped into the station.

With the help of her aunt, she quickly adapted to city life. At school, her grades were average and she had a small group of friends. She never told anyone about her ability, and she planned to keep it that way.

She still saw things, but nothing significant really happened. Her ability must have peaked. Right? If only that was the case.

One year in high school, her class went to another city for a week-long trip. Part of that trip was a visit to a museum. Some groaned in faked agony while others shrugged their shoulders in mild indifference.

Walking through the museum, she had this feeling well up inside her. Maybe it was because she was surrounded by all these artifacts of the past, but she had never felt this before.

She had this compelling feeling that these items were more than that. It was as if they had life in them; no, it was as if they could have life breathed into them. She felt as if she could something like that, but why?

Wandering around a bit more, she came across a few swords on display. She studied the details in the case. It was amazing how something could survive all these centuries.

"You…are truly amazing." Her head was cast down, but she was looking up through her fringe at the man above the sword. His image was much clearer than the "Pink Sword Man" she still remembers.

Sometime after she graduated, a small group of people came to her home. They said they were part of an Order or some kind and wished to talk to her. Her aunt wasn't home and she was a little suspicious of them. But she saw a little fox spirit with them and it said that it was safe to let them in. Although still a little wary, she let them in.

Once the door was closed, they got straight to the point: they knew about her powers. They were interested in her.

"What are talking about?" She tried to feign ignorance.

"There's no point to that. You saw Konnosuke, didn't you?"

"Konnosuke?"

"The little fox. It told you it was fine for you to let us in." They got her there.

"Okay, fine. But, what do you want with me? It's not like I'm some trained shaman or anything."

"We've been observing you for quite some time now. There's also the added factor of your lineage." Hearing that, she started to get more uneasy. She picked up the fox and held it closer to her. How much did they know about her? "And even without proper training, you've surely had that feeling, right? That certain objects could be given life."

"Well, I guess…I mean…I've felt it when I'm around antiques and things like that, but I'm not usually around that sort of stuff, so how would I really know?"

"Antiques?" That seemed to have piques their interest a bit more.

"You've been spying on me, haven't you? You know that museum trip I took a while back. Those objects…it was as if…" How could she explain it? "It was as if they could go beyond just being alive and actually be humans, you know?"

Those people seemed to be very pleased with that. They continued talking with her more and asking her questions. Then they told her to come with them to their main headquarters and they would explain more to her. She agreed because, well, might as well. She left her aunt a simple message saying that she would be out.

She met with the higher-ups in the Order. They told her about the situation at hand: there's a mysterious group using time travel to alter the distant past. There is little information beyond that. They were traveling to the distant past. And this Order was trying to stop them.

With the explanation done, she realized something. "Wait, if there is already a lot of these "Saniwa sages," then why even bother with me? The rest of you are obviously more trained in this. Not only that, until today, I didn't even know this was going on, while obviously, you know what's going on."

"Well, we simply do not have enough strength to fully go through with this mission. In fact, we've observed many people for this. Out of everyone, your powers resonate the strongest; quite impressive, considering your age and inexperience."

They told her she didn't need to accept the offer. She was given a card with their information and they told her to at least think about it.

Days later, she was still caught up on that Order. Her aunt was concerned about how distracted she was lately.

She was deep in thought. Would she really consider doing this? It sounded like an opportunity for adventure. The Order could probably help her control her powers. Those people also mentioned historical swords, which excited her. She actually had an interest in them for a while, even since the recent miraculous discovery and recovery of swords previously thought to have been lost in time.

She decided to accept the offer and become a Saniwa. She contacted the number they gave her. The person on the other end said that they would be on their way to pick her up. There would also be another vehicle to move all her belongings. From now on, she would be living in the base. They also told her not to worry because they world explain (ie. cover up) everything to her family and friends.

Her things were packed away into boxes (she made sure her more fragile things were handled with care) and her room was stripped bare. Her aunt waved her goodbye and wished her good luck on her new "job."

She spent a little over two years training to be a Saniwa. The people at the Order guided her through it all.

Then, the time finally came for her training to come to an end and her duty to begin. She would be sent to a citadel that would serve as her base of operations.

"Excuse me, but where exactly is this citadel?" She was never told the location.

"Oh, you'll be sent to one in the year 2015. Don't worry, it's not too far from a town, so you can still get supplies from there. But, it's far enough that people will not venture there."

"Wait, what?! That's nearly 200 years ago!" Time travel wasn't something unusual in 2205, but this wasn't like some vacation! She would actually have to live in that time!

"It's just an extra precaution from the enemy. You'll be fine. Konnosuke will go with you to continue being your guide." Well, at least she wouldn't be alone in this.

"Oh, and your stuff will be transferred there too. Expect it within a few hours to a day of your arrival there."

She got a final briefing and a miko outfit from her superiors. With Konnosuke in her arms, she went through to the year 2015.

The citadel was huge. Konnosuke even gave her a tour of the place. She had her own private room with an attached bathroom. There was also a large outdoor bath in the back and large rooms used as sleeping quarters. There were large fields for farming (although she still wasn't sure why) and stables for the horses. The stables were mostly empty, but the horses that were there were pretty cute. Those places weren't even close to even half of the place—this citadel had a lot of property!

When they went to the servants' quarters, she met the little fairies. They were adorable and looked like they would hard-working. Although, Konnosuke mentioned that – outside of their main jobs – it was better to not expect them to do much. They were to help with cooking, cleaning, sword maintenance, and the like.

The last stop was the main room where she would be conducting her duties. It overlooked a garden. In one corner, there was a computer (a little archaic in her opinion, but it was apparently one of the newest models of this time) that was hooked up to various monitors and machines. It was to keep her in contact with the Order, monitor the battlefield and citadel, and keep record of her missions; just to name a few of its functions. Her personal business she can just do on her own laptop.

In the middle of the room was a single mounted sword. A note beside stated that this was one of the sword they managed to salvage. With it, she would start her journey.

Her training allowed her to concentrate her ability. She could even "turn off" seeing the spirits of objects. She took the sword off the mount and looked it over. She hummed in appreciation before gently setting it down. She put both her hands on it and concentrated. She could feel the energy flowing, the _tsukumogami_ of the sword materializing, and the scent of…cherry blossoms?

And then, in place of the sword in front of her was the form of a young pretty boy. He looked a little younger than her (but just a bit).

"Uhh. I'm the child beneath the river. Kashuu Kiyomitsu. I may be difficult to handle, but my performance is good." She was too much in awe to reply to that. She just more or less created a person! He then took hold of her hands. "You're my master now, right? Promise you'll take good~ care of me, okay?"

"Y-yes. Of course!"

Konnosuke congratulated her. He then showed her the next part of her duties: the Sortie. The swords would head out to where the enemy was in different points in history. Since it would be dangerous and compromising if the Saniwa were to head out the battle, she would stay here and monitor the progress from the computers.

After a near-disastrous first sortie in which Kashuu was badly injured, she nearly yelled at the little fox for not telling her about the armory before sending the boy out to battle. She then nearly yelled at Kashuu to get back to the citadel. He did, although slowly. She grabbed him and quickly took him to repairs. He was in a heavy daze. When they arrived there, he suddenly stopped.

"If you're bothered to repair me, does that mean you still love me?" He said it more to himself but it so quiet, she almost didn't hear that.

"Of course I do! Why wouldn't I?" She said and pushed the boy into the armory. Apparently, that was enough for make it snap out of his daze and glance back at her. He reverted back to sword form and the doors closed. A timer appeared to show how long the repairs would take.

While Kashuu was being repaired, Konnosuke showed her the smith that would allow her to create swords. The little blacksmith fairy waved at her, ready for the job. They must be strong for their size to do this. She gave him the materials for the basic recipe. The result was a small tantou.

When she gave it life, she was surprised by what she saw. He was a little scrap of a boy. He was covered in bandages and his clothes were tattered. His eyes looked too harsh for someone who looked as small and young as he did. It was quite a contrast to Kashuu Kiyomitsu.

"I am Sayo Samonji. Who do you wish revenge upon...?"

Revenge? What did he mean by that? He looked determined to please her, although he didn't look like he actually wanted to carry out revenge. That one look made one thing clear to her: her duties as Saniwa were not to be taken lightly.

"For now, just lend me your strength." She petted him, which caught him off guard. His hair was really fluffy.

"I understand."

This was the start of her adventure. Not just to stop the enemy, but to understand these swords.

* * *

I never gave her a name. I just call her Saniwa-san. If you've been to my pixiv or tumblr, you've seen what she looks like.

PS. Her height is "slightly taller than Kashuu in heels"


End file.
